[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6681-H6682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. FAZIO of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the 
purpose of inquiring of the distinguished majority whip about the 
schedule for next week. I would be happy to yield for whatever 
description of the schedule he would like to provide.
  Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, the House has concluded its legislative business for the 
week. On Monday, June 24, we will meet in pro forma session Of course, 
there will be no legislative business and no votes that day.
  On Tuesday, June 25, the House will meet at 10:30 a.m. for morning 
hour, and 12 noon for legislative business. Members should note that we 
do expect recorded votes close to 1 p.m. Please be advised that we will 
have a full day planned for Tuesday, June 25.
  The House will first debate H.R. 2531, the House Parent Exemption 
Act, which is on the corrections day calendar. We will then take up 
under suspension of the rules H.R. 3604, the Safe Drinking Water Act. 
After consideration of the suspension on Tuesday, the House will 
consider the rule for H.R. 3666, the VA-HUD appropriations, and the 
bill itself.

  On Wednesday, June 26, and the balance of the week, the House will 
consider the appropriation bill for the Department of Transportation, 
and possibly for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human 
Services.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remind Members that we may take up 
a resolution holding the President's aides in contempt of Congress. It 
is our hope that the President will be forthcoming with the subpoenaed 
Travelegate documents before next week. However, in the event that 
these key documents are not provided, we may need to act on the 
contempt resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, we hope to finish legislative business and start the 
July 4th district period by 2 p.m. on Friday, June 28. Members should 
be prepared to return to Washington on Tuesday, July 9. We expect 
recorded votes to be held that day after 5 p.m.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the whip for 
assuring members that 5 o'clock is still the time for votes on that 
Tuesday return after the Fourth of July break.
  Is it likely that given the fact that the Labor-HHS bill is not yet 
marked up and probably will not be until the end of Tuesday of next 
week, that we probably are not likely to see it on the floor? Is it 
realistic that it will be the two appropriations bills, Transportation, 
VA-HUD?
  Mr. DeLAY. Well, the reason I said possibly consideration of the 
Labor-HHS appropriations bill is that hopefully we can work some sort 
of agreement out between the ranking member, Mr. Obey, and the 
chairman, Mr. Livingston, so that we could go to that bill. If that is 
not possible, then we may not do the bill next week.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I have another question. Could 
the gentleman tell me when the first reconciliation bill is likely to 
hit the floor. I know many thought it would be before us in the next 
week. I know also that the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt], the 
Democratic leader, has written to the Speaker asking for some sort of 
clarification as to the intent of the majority with regard to welfare, 
Medicaid, and taxes, whether they would be tied together or come 
separately, would they or would they not be part of the reconciliation, 
and what requirements might the Committee on Rules impose as to how we 
could construct a viable Democratic alternative.

  Is the gentleman in a position to give us any understanding about 
when that might come and how it might come?

                              {time}  1800

  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would continue to yield, those decisions 
have not been made as yet, and we are consulting with as many Members 
as possible to decide which is the best way to proceed.
  We expect that the first reconciliation bill, if indeed we split up 
the reconciliation bill, would come soon after the July 4th break. We 
have every intention of working with the minority's leadership to make 
sure that the minority will have plenty of time in which to craft any 
substitute that they may want to offer.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's 
assurance, and I look forward to finalizing the arrangements, because I 
want to maintain, very clearly, that the minority is very anxious to 
participate in the discussions, whether we take them up as a package or 
individually, and we look forward to providing an alternative.
  I want to find out from the majority whip, if he can tell us, what 
will be the fate of the so-called reform week, which we understood was 
coming that week on our return. We now have backed up several key 
appropriations bills, we have just heard about the need to bring up the 
reconciliation bills, and we pick up anecdotally that many of the 
reforms are falling by the wayside.

  I am wondering, is reform week still in our future, or has it perhaps 
been drifting off into oblivion?

[[Page H6682]]

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I 
would say to him that we want to continue the reputation that we have 
established in the 104th Congress of being the reform Congress. We have 
every intention of continuing with our plans for a reform week.
  We intend to do a campaign finance reform bill. Unfortunately, we are 
slipping the schedule on our appropriations bills, and our first 
priority is to get through the 13 appropriation bills and use the 
precious floor time for them, but we have every intention of honoring 
our commitments on reforms, to continue the reforms that we have been 
working on, sometime in July.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I would 
once again ask the gentleman, as I have the gentleman from California, 
Chairman Thomas, and others who may have jurisdiction, if we could be 
given some understanding about what will be coming to the floor during 
that week, whenever it is.

  It is our experience that when we have task force government in the 
legislative process, we do not always have an opportunity to 
participate until, all of a sudden, the legislation is before us. So, I 
am wondering when we may be informed about what will be the composition 
of reform week in some detail. Could the gentleman inform us?
  Mr. DeLAY. As soon as we know, we will let the gentleman know.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. I consider that a very candid comment, and I 
appreciate the response.
  One last question, and I will not prolong this. I know a good deal of 
attention is suddenly being focused on the MFN for China. Could the 
gentleman tell us when that very important debate, which is really 
bipartisan in nature, might well come before the body?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, I would advise the gentleman that we are 
trying to work with both sides on the MFN issue. We are going to have a 
leadership meeting next week and we have been in discussion with our 
leadership team. There is a possibility that we would do MFN next week 
if we can get the floor time for it and do it.
  We would like to get it on to the floor and moving as quickly as we 
can, and we think we can do that. Although, we cannot, for certain, say 
it is going to be next week, there is a possibility it will be brought 
up next week.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Does the gentleman have any idea how long we 
might have to debate that, how extensive the time commitment to MFN 
would likely be?
  Mr. DeLAY. If we do it next week, it would be several hours, but it 
would not be the 20 hours as required. We will consult with the 
minority leadership to make sure that every Member's requests are taken 
care of, but understanding that floor time is very precious.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I will try to wrap this one up 
and yield further.
  If it is possible, after the first two appropriations bills, VA-HUD 
and Transportation, are dealt with, if Labor-HHS is not ready, we may 
well then go to Thursday afternoon, Friday morning consideration of 
MFN; is that correct?
  Mr. DeLAY. I would say that that is a real possibility.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. And Friday is firm, until 2, next week?
  Mr. DeLAY. Friday we will be out by 2 p.m. no matter what.
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate very much the 
input of the majority whip, and if the Speaker would forbear for just a 
second, I have been asked by the White House to indicate for those 
going to the picnic tonight that they are urging people to take 
Independence Avenue to 17th street, right on 17th, cross Constitution 
and take the first right turn onto the Ellipse.
  There is a tremendous potential for a traffic snarl there tonight. 
Parking is available on the Ellipse and east toward East Executive 
Drive. If any Members who are listening to this have some concerns 
about it, call the cloakrooms of the two parties and we will help try 
to ease transportation.

                          ____________________